A cloud service generally refers to a service that allows end recipient computer systems (thin clients, portable computers, smartphones, desktop computers and so forth) to access a pool of hosted computing and/or storage resources (i.e., the cloud resources) and networks over a network (the Internet, for example). In this manner, the host, a cloud service provider, may, as examples, provide Software as a Service (SaaS) by hosting applications; Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) by hosting equipment (servers, storage components, network components, etc.); or a Platform as a Service (PaaS) by hosting a computing platform (operating system, hardware, storage, etc.).
A typical cloud service incurs charges on a demand basis, is managed by the cloud service provider and may be scaled (scaled according to desired storage capacity, processing power, network bandwidth and so forth) by the end user. The cloud service may be a public service (an Internet-based service, for example) that is generally available to all potential users or a limited access private service that is provided over a private network (a business enterprise network, for example) as well as a managed cloud service (e.g., a virtual private cloud service) or a hybrid cloud service (a cloud service that is a combination of the above). Traditionally, when a user orders a cloud service, the user may manually perform various actions related to deploying and configuring software associated with the ordered cloud service (e.g. deployment of virtual machines (VMs), middleware, application software, application components, and so forth) on the provisioned/instantiated infrastructure.